Public Storage is acquiring Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust’s Simply Self Storage for $2.2 billion.
The deal will add 127 wholly owned properties and nine million net rentable square feet to Public Storage’s portfolio. About 65% of the properties are located in high-growth Sunbelt markets.
The acquisition is expected to close in this year’s third quarter.
The anticipated transaction is another sign of the self-storage sector undergoing consolidation. Earlier this month Extra Space Storage and Life Storage closed on their $12.4 billion previously announced merger. The combined company is now the largest storage operator in the country with more than 3,500 locations, 270 million square feet of rentable storage space and more than 2 million customers. The combined firm is also among the largest REITs in the MSCI U.S. REIT Index with a value of about $46 billion.
Since 2019, Public Storage has expanded its portfolio by about 55 million net rentable square feet or 34% through $10.6 billion of acquisitions, development and redevelopment. “This acquisition reflects the continued execution of our multi-factor external growth platform, which includes acquisition, development, redevelopment, expansion, and third-party management,” said CEO Joe Russell.